Floating cutter bar for harvesters



June 3, 1952 R. D. DowNlNG ET AL 2,599,438

FLOATING CUTTER BARI F'OR HARVESTERS F'i-led Oct. 28. 1948 4Sheets-Sheet l llll Peu-Lop June 3, 1952 R. D. DOWNING ET Al. 2,599,438

' FLoATING CUTTER BAR FOR HARVESTERS Filed 0G11. 28. 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet2 rzverzor's. Pexl'n Dow/22139 Q Clare/zc@ Cf be/5 Mop' P June 3, 1952R. D. DowNlNG ET Al. 2,599,438

FLOATING CUTTER BAR FOR HARVESTERS Filed Oct. 28, 1948 4 SheeS-Sheei 3 sN m en \r\ QI() :g n-1'. g

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Patented June 3, 1952 TENT OFFlg New Jersey l Application October 28,1948, Serial No. 56,392

2 Claims.

"Ihis invention relates'to a new and improved noa'tingcutter barforharvesters. s I

Harvesting machines forgrainland small grains In particular employ atransversely extending reciprocating cutter bar to effecta7 cutting 'ofthe lgr'a'ir'i at` the time 'of its entrance Lint() the' mia-l chinewhetherit lbe abinder, a 'thresh'erforany oneof "several types of grainAvmachines; i "Ih'e cutter bar, as; a rule, l"forms 'a partofa plateform upon whichthe *grain fallsaftenitwhas been cutr Verticaladjustmentoffthe butter bar is accomplished through vertical adjustmentof the* platform.' Prior to the 'present 4time r`cutter Uighav beenf'mounted' relatively' rigidly "With respect to their *platforms and ifthe' machine fstrucl" an obstructionn it was "necessary 4forl Ktheiitire platform't'o be'rmoved'verti'c'allyior ethere 'wise in order `'torelieve fthe cutter `bar and* prevent? damage thereto;4 Yielda'ble meansfor'V a large lratffm'isuch asfllblyed-bn many harvesting machines isdifficult to eonstructiand very often not eiective in providin'g'jtlieUnecessary yfvlldability -for^rigidly `mounted cutter .1...jf... g 1...(.wa

principal object of this invention is to pro- Videa cutter Ybar-forharvesting'machines iioatfabl `with*respect to the` platform onwhicl itis 1'. l, e -l-- :L .I.A.,-,I\ .1.. :..JM--4 LS important object of thisinvention is to prvid'e a" cutter barlocatedalong the; forward 4edgefofaihai'vester platform'and 'mounted' in E's'ich "'a manner 'that- 4itisJlpermittedfcertain relative VerticalI oating'movement'iwith respect totheplatform onwh'ich'it'is mounted.

Another"fimportaint'bject of this invention is to supply a harvesterplatform ywith a reciprocating cutter-*bar adaptedA-for-Jhinged mount--ing `on the-platform and capable of generally vertical swingingmovement in' cooperation. with spring means for vnormally urging.A the.cutter bar downwardly from thew'platform'.

Affstill further important' 'ob-ject of this inventin i`s"the provisionofmean'sin a cutter bar o'fthe' reciprocating type for permitting'considble e'iiibility alongl the entirelength thereof a d -to^permitcontinuedV opration andi-proper 'feeding of material being f cut Leventhough Y"portions y'of 't'hecutter bar arep'ositioned atvarious groundlevels.

Other and further important objects of this invention will becomeapparent from the disclosures in the following specification andaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the oating cutter bar forharvesters of this invention.

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Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing the cutter bar flexed'4dueitogroundvcontour. v5 n ffl'ig; 3l' is apersp'ective viewfdrawnzto anenlarged s'caleshowing substantially one endqof the cutter b'ar'andplatform iasshown in Figs. 1 andzi. "Fig. {bisatbp .planfview ofthedevice of Figui showing J'portions :thereof .removed itc indicate thev'cciriistr-u'ctionfon the underside1thereof'.; f- '-li -5is`-asectionalView drawnftor. an enlarged scale taken 4'on the line 5-.'5. of Fig. :1.-1Fig 6'fi`s` a'f"se'c:tionall View takenonthe line -'ofFgQifl if l 1 'rj.' .f Iigff'fis a sectional view similar to that of `6 withth Icutte'r`bar hingenarms` moved i* As 'shown fin -the drawings, reference.numeral ,II/lf' indicates -j` generally a. harvester .platformV .ofthe"typ`eusually employed onharvester threshifers.ZThe5rilatfcrr'n`consists of a transversely ex'- tendingfloorportion'IIidenedzby side gathering or separatinglpoints I2r and I3 andan Jad- 'jojning-"baclr'wall I4 The forwardaend `of theplatform"isfprovidedfwith a transverselyfdisposed cutter* bar 'I5 havingspaced forwardly-project= ingjiinger guard'rsIB--and a laterallyreciprocable 'blad/e I 'l adapted to #cut standing grain.'r I i Rear'-"wadly of' 4the^cutter barv I5 and on` the trough- "like-bottom of theplatform IIfcooperative auger feedingy -dev'ices'lf Isf-'and I9 are=Krotatably!A driven toeiect lateral feeding of grain" cut by 'rthecutter.bar toA "ai central portion- 2 Il Aof 'the platform, whereinthe grainfiscarried upwardly' and rearwardly forI s-bsequenttreatment by means' rofVarr.u ndershot-'conveyor ZI.Uli 1 i f- Y- T31 acts as agussetiplate for'the adjoining-mem'- blefS'iZUli ndand also', as apivota'l Spp'ort at32"`fo'r a pitman 33 pivotallyv attached 'at its forward end at 34 tothe reciprocal knife member I'I and joined at its rearward end at 35 toa reciprocating drive member 36. The cutter bar I5 is mounted directlyon the eXible transverse member 24 defining this rectangular supportingstructure. The bottom II of the platform I0, as best shown in Fig. 5, iscarried on sides of the supporting members.

atomes 3 transversely disposed angle support members 31 and 38. Therearward end of the upper platform structure is provided with downwardlyextending ear or lug members 39 for hinged attachment at 4I) to themembers 25, 26, 21 and 28.

Leaf spring members 4I are bolted at 42 to the members 25, 26, 21 and28. These springs 4I extend forwardly to a hinge attachment at 43 todownwardly extending arms 44 hinged at 45 to a bracket 45a which arebolted at 45h to the angle supporting member 31. This construction isbest shown in Fig. 8.

Bail-like members 46 are fastened to the supporting members 25, 26, 21and 28 and have portions extending upwardly adjacent the lateral A crossmember or pin 41 forms the top and confining member of the leaf springs4I and limits the separation of the upper platform portion consisting ofthe bottom I I and the lower platform portion consisting of therectangular frame and the cutter bar. Figs. 6 and 1 best show therelative movement between the two portions of the platform I0. Fig. 7shows the cutter bar and supporting section in its lowermost positionand Fig. 6 shows the cutter bar section moved upwardly against theaction of the leaf spring 4I and with the two sections of the platformin abutting relationship.

Spring strip members 48 are riveted or otherwise fastened at 49 to thetop of the flexible cross supporting member 24 and extend upwardly andrearwardly over the supporting members 31 and 38 to form a floor overwhich the grain cut by the cutter bar I can pass to the bottom II of theplatform I0. The plate members 48 are relatively narrow as shown inFigs. 1 and 2 and are conducive to permit flexing of the cutter barintermediate its ends and along the entire length thereof as the contourof the ground requires such flexing. As best shown in Fig. 2 a groundobstruction 49 is located approximately in the center of the platform I0and the cutter bar with its narrow plates 48 is flexed upwardly in orderto permit passage of the platform over the irregular ground contour. Theforward brace or supporting member 24 is a substantially flat spring barwhich may be conveniently flexed for the successful operation of thecutter bar. A rigid metal floor structure would substantially preventflexing whereas the narrow spring members 48 easily yield for over-allfiexing of the cutter bar.

It should be noted that the gathering points I2 and 'I 3 are mounted onthe cutter bar supporting member 24 and as such move with the cutter barI5. Relative movement between the points I2 and I3 with side members 50and 5I forming part of the bottom II constituting the upper portion ofthe platform is permitted by reason of bolt or pin members 52 attachedto the side sheets 50 and 5I and extending through arcuate slots 53 inthe point members I2 and I3. The pins 52 are adapted for slidingmovement through the arcuate slots 53.

In operation, the harvester platform of this invention is adapted formovement through a field of standing grain. The reciprocating cutter barI5 is adapted to cut off the grain closely adjacent the ground so thatthe grain head and its supporting stalk falls rearwardly onto theplatform bottom I I, at which time the auger conveyors I8 and I9 feedthe grain centrally to the open space 20 where it is picked up by theupwardly extending undershot conveyor 2 I. The cutter bar is flexible intwo ways. It has overall yielding ability Iby reason of the hinging ofthe lower frame section with respect to the upper platform portion asdetermined by the hinging leaf springs 4 I. Further, irregular groundcontours are compensated for by a iiexing of the cutter bar intermediateits ends because of the fiat supporting member 24 and the narrow springplate members 48.

Numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a wide rangewithout departing from the principles disclosed herein and we thereforedo not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than asnecessitated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a harvester platform comprising a supporting structure, an augercarrying trough mounted on said supporting structure, a cuttingmechanism along the leading edge of the platform supporting structure,lengthwise disposed yieldable members arranged in spaced apart positionand connected at one end to the underneath portion of the trough and atthe other end to the supporting structure, guard fingers carried at theforward edge of the supporting structure, a reciprocable knife operablethrough said guard fingers, and spring strip members arranged inside-by-side relationship and attached at their forward ends to theguard fingers and adapted to extend rearwardly over said auger trough,said knife adapted to iiex with the yieldable members in response tocontact with uneven ground contour.

2. A harvester platform having cutting mechanism along its leading edgecomprising a series of guard fingers, a transversely disposed fiexiblecross member fastened to each of said guard fingers, individua1 springstrip members arranged lengthwise in parallel side-by-side relation andconnected at their forward ends to said guard fingers and saidtransversely disposed flexible cross member, and a knife reciprocablethrough the guard fingers and adapted to flex with the guard fingers inresponse to ground contour.

REHORD D. DOWNING. CLARENCE C. EVERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 298,249 Smith May 6, 18841,199,678 Elliason Sept. 26, 1916 1,598,843 Bauercamper Sept. 7, 19261,996,294 Hume et al. Apr. 2. 1935 2,099,471 Edgington Nov. 16, 19372,102,710 Hume et al. Dec. 21, 1937

